


Summer Abroad

by Spurlunk



Category: Black Panther (2018), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, India, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-04 23:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14031324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spurlunk/pseuds/Spurlunk
Summary: Peter Parker goes on a six week summer program to India, where he happens to run into Shuri, in town to help set up one of the new Wakandan Outreach Centers while her brother takes care of some diplomatic meetings. Nakia has tagged along on the trip too, visiting an old friend, and when she finds a piece of Shuri's tech on the street, all of them work together to track down the thief. However, nothing is simple in the bustling city of New Delhi, and there may be a new superhero in town - or is he a supervillain?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I gotta get this out before Infinity War comes out and ruins this lol or maybe there will be so many superheroes in that movie that Peter and Shuri won't even meet and this could still work. WE WILL FIND OUT SOON.

Peter Parker had not planned to spend the summer before his junior year in India. It hadn't been his decision – his history teacher had nominated him, and Aunt May had finished the application for him. He didn't know he was going until literally the week before he was supposed to leave. When he asked his aunt why she hadn't told him about it, she said because she knew he'd say no. “It's an excellent opportunity for you,” she had said, and he couldn't argue that. He'd never been outside of the United States before; he'd never really been anywhere at all. 

Peter was assigned a host family he'd be living with for six weeks. Their apartment was small but cozy, and the father was usually out working late. He was a doctor. The mother worked part time in a boutique shop, and she was always trying to get Peter to eat more. She was bossy but meant well, and he liked her in small doses. Her only son, Irfan, was twenty and home from college for the summer. In the mornings, he tutored a middle school boy who lived next door. All he ever wanted to do was listen to music or play guitar. He said he was in a band, but Peter wasn't sure if he actually was.

In the mornings, Peter got on a bus which was actually a minivan, with the other dozen kids who were in the same study abroad program he was. They were from all over the country, but they were a little more...normal than he was. Peter was used to being a nerd at a nerdy school. They were all nice to him, but that was it. There was this barrier he couldn't get through. It was fine, he had only been here for two weeks, it was okay if they all seemed like they'd been friends for years...except him. Peter spent a lot of time face-timing Ned, and MJ.

They attended Hindi classes for the first four hours of the day, and then had lunch at the school cafeteria. They were at a local school, but didn't interact with the Indian kids much. They stood out, in their regular clothes while all the Indian kids wore school uniforms. After lunch, some days they went to cultural activities, which meant craft fairs or monuments or museums. Some days they were dropped off at home and spent time with their host families. For Peter, that meant hanging out with Irfan, who wasn't particularly interested in spending time with him. That one Thursday, when Peter got home, Irfan was waiting for him, shoes on and ready to go.

“Where are we going?” Peter asked. Irfan didn't even let him go upstairs, grabbing him by his shoulders and turning him right around.

“We're going to meet some of my friends for coffee,” he said. Peter groaned as Irfan shoved him into an Uber, squeezing in next to him and slamming the door. He had gone out with Irfan and his friends before, and they were nice to him at first, but then started talking in a mixture of Hindi and English about people he'd never met and places he'd never been. This time was the same. They went to Hauz Khas, a maze of tall narrow buildings filled with cool restaurants, cafes, and boutique shops. They went into a little restaurant and Peter stayed at the table for a while, but then he got antsy.

“Hey Irfan, I'm going to go walk around a little, is that okay?” he asked 

“Yeah, whatever,” Irfan said, and Peter grabbed his backpack, heading down the stairs and out into the street. He began browsing the shops around him. Everything was too expensive at first, but then he saw an intriguing sign leading down some stairs. It was a used bookstore, with tons of old Bollywood posters, pictures, and maps. Peter actually found a couple of cool things he thought Aunt May and Ned would like, and when he asked the woman at the desk how much they cost, she looked at him and told him a reasonable enough price that he didn't even try to bargain. He wasn't sure he knew enough Hindi to bargain anyway. 

Peter put his purchases in his backpack and kept walking down the street, but the buildings and shops were coming to an end. There was a large parking lot and a street, so he just kept walking. He was curious what else there was around here. There was a fence on his right, and it kept away some wilderness – maybe a park or nature center? He peered through the fence and thought he saw a monkey. This was the first monkey he'd ever seen outside of a zoo, and Peter was curious. He looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to him, and no one was, so he tossed his backpack over the fence and jumped over it afterwards. 

Peter wasn't sure if this was the smartest idea, after he'd already climbed over. Other than monkeys and birds, he didn't see any other animal, and he was pretty sure there wasn't anything like tigers in the city, but there might be snakes. Didn't India have poisonous snakes? He was pretty sure it did. At least he wasn't wearing shorts. Could snakes bite through denim? They probably could. Peter froze in his tracks as he spotted a deer. It was frozen too, and the two of them stared at each other for a minute before he sneezed and the deer bolted away. Peter kept walking, looking around and exploring. Then he heard another person. It was a girl's voice, with an accent he couldn't place. He snuck behind a tree and peered out. He saw a couple of colorful shapes in the distance, and was curious enough to go find out what they were doing. Peter found a tree that was close enough that he could hear what they were saying, and climbed up for a better vantage point. 

Shuri said something in Hindi, and Peter wasn't sure what she said, but she made a gesture crossing her arms on her chest. The other person, an Indian woman in a blue sari, nodded, though she looked a little nervous. The darker girl pulled out blasters, that she strapped on to both wrists. She was wearing a neon green top, with her braids tied up in two buns like Princess Leia. Peter thought she was beautiful, but he was also curious as to what she was actually going to do. She aimed at the woman, and the woman raised her arms up the way the girl had just shown her. The girl shot both blasters, and Peter winced, but they never hit the woman. Something happened with her bracelets. She was wearing a single gold bangle on each wrist, and they shimmered somehow, creating a sort of shield that the blaster fire just dissipated over and faded away. 

“Holy shit!” Peter said, and fell out of the tree. Both women turned to look at him, the girl's blasters still ready to fire.

“Don't shoot me!” Peter said, standing up and brushing dirt off his pants.

“Why would I shoot you?” the girl asked. 

“Are you Wakandan?” he asked her.

“Yes, how did you know?”

“I've never seen that kind of tech before, not even Mr. Stark has that kind of - “

“This? This is nothing, just something new I'm working on. It's not ready yet. Now my brother's suit, that is really something. He just wears a necklace, it's silver and it looks very stylish if I do say so, but when he - “

“Wait, you're talking about the Black Panther's suit? Your brother is the Black Panther?” Peter said, his voice going higher and higher on every word. He cleared his throat and made his voice deeper.

“I mean, uh, your brother is the Black Panther? That's cool. I met him one time. Well, I saw him. Kind of.” Peter said.

“Explain,” she said.

“I'm Spiderman,” Peter said. She raised a single eyebrow. Peter wished he could do that. He swung his backpack around to the front and unzipped it. He pulled out his costume. He had brought it with him, mostly because he felt kind of naked without it near him, like a security blanket.

“Anyone can have a costume,” she said. Peter took off his shirt and then realized she was still standing there looking at him.

“Turn around please,” he said, but she just folded her arms and grinned at him. He knew he was turning red, but he couldn't do anything about it. Peter turned around and stripped down to his boxers, pulling on the suit and then straightening back up. He climbed the tree as fast as he could and then hung upside down from it by a string of web. The girl aimed her blasters at Peter, and thankfully he reacted before he could think, and dodged as she shot at him, flipping over and landing on his feet.

“Why'd you do that!” he exclaimed, “I told you I'm Spiderman.”

“Yes, I know. I was just messing with you. I'm Shuri.”

“I'm Peter. Nice to meet you, your...highness?”

“Just call me Shuri,” she said. The woman who had been with her was looking at her phone. She said something to Shuri in Hindi, and she must have understood her, because she nodded.

“We have to go, but if you want to come with me you can see my lab. I know you're interested in these blasters,” Shuri said.

“YES, I want to see your lab. I mean, um, just a minute, let me text someone first,” he said, pulling out his phone. He texted Irfan to tell him he'd met a friend and was going somewhere with her. He didn't wait for a response, jogging a little to catch up with her. They made it back to the front gate, which Peter hadn't even noticed initially, and got into a white SUV. There was a driver there waiting, and Shuri got in the backseat with Peter while the woman with her got into the front and started chatting with the driver.

“So why are you in India?” Shuri asked. “I thought you were from New York.”

“I am. My aunt and my teacher signed me up for this study abroad thing. I'm supposed to be learning Hindi. Why are you here?”

“My brother is setting up Wakandan Outreach Centers. I'm in charge of Science and Technology, so I'm spending a week or two at each center to make sure everything is working properly.”

“Can you speak Hindi?”

“Not really, but I have one of these,” she said, pulling her ear back to reveal a tiny translucent patch on her scalp. It looked like a tiny band-aid.

“What's that?”

“It's a translator patch. Doesn't help you speak any language that you don't already know, but it translates it all for you so you understand at least. I'll get you one too, it'll help with your Hindi classes.”

“That would be amazing, thank you.” Peter said. He couldn't believe his luck.

“I can't believe this is happening. This is so cool,” he said, and Shuri laughed. They pulled up to a large building, with a sign in front in English and Hindi saying Wakandan Outreach Center. Peter followed Shuri inside, but not before quickly snapping a picture of the back of Shuri's head with the building sign in the background. He sent it to Ned with the caption PRINCESS OF WAKANDA and quickly followed her into the building. They went into the lobby, where the woman with them said goodbye to Shuri and walked in a different direction. Shuri pressed her palm against a pad on the wall, and the doors slid open into the lab. Peter knew he looked like an idiot, standing there staring at everything, but there was so much to see.

“This is nothing compared to my lab back home,” Shuri said, smiling at the expression on Peter's face. She pulled open a case and took out a small, translucent patch.

“Hold still,” she said, and pushed his hair away, sticking it right behind his ear. He tried really hard not to move, even though it was a weirdly intimate place for her to touch.

“There. Now you can understand any language on Earth,” Shuri said in Xhosa. Somehow Peter knew she was speaking another language; it sounded different, but he understood her perfectly.

“Whoa, that's so cool. I can't pay for it though, this must be worth thousands - “ he stammered.

“It's probably priceless, so don't worry about it too much. I actually could use your help with something, though,” Shuri said.

“What do you need?”

“You saw me out there testing my tech with that woman – she works here, and she has other things to do. It would be better if I tested it with someone who was better equipped to deal with it.”

“You want me to – are you kidding? I'd love to. I mean, um, let me see if I can make time,” Peter said. His phone buzzed, making him jump. He pulled it out and answered.

“Hey, Peter, where are you? I've walked all around Hauz Khas and I can't find you anywhere. If you've gotten lost - “ Irfan started.

“I'm not lost! I texted you! I'm at, um – the Wakandan Outreach Center. Do you know where that is?”

“Yes. Why are you there? It's not even open yet.”

“It actually just opened – I'll take an uber back to where you are right now. See you,” he said, and hung up before he heard Irfan say goodbye. He turned back to Shuri.

“I'm sorry, I have to go – but I can come back another time to help you test your tech?” he said. Shuri took his phone from him and entered her number, handing it back.

“Text me when you're free. I'll be here,” she said, and waved goodbye.

“It was nice to meet you!” he yelled, banging through the doors and out into the street. 

“You too, Peter Parker!” she called back, and he could hear the smile in her voice. 

When Peter got back to where he had left Irfan, his host brother looked annoyed. He got in the car, and Peter quickly explained that he had made a new friend and wanted to spend more time with her.

“Hey if you want to cut out and go hang out with some girl, I don't care. Just meet me back when you say you'll meet me.” Irfan said.

“I will, I promise, just – you won't tell your mom, right?”

“No, I won't tell my mom.”

"Then we're good."


	2. Chapter 2

Nakia was in New Delhi to visit an old friend. She had been here about six years earlier, and during the course of her work, she'd met a pregnant fourteen year old girl who had been raped by her uncle. She helped her get on her feet and get the resources she needed for herself and her baby. Now the girl was a grown woman, and was working in a school for street children as a caretaker. Her daughter was in the first grade in that same school. Nakia had brought some sports equipment for the kids – soccer balls and cricket bats. They immediately got several games going, and Nakia sat down with some of the older girls, who bombarded her with curious questions about her life, Wakanda, her hair, her clothes. Finally, Nakia's friend shooed the girls away and she was able to sit and have some tea with her, catching up on what was happening with her family and how the school was going. She was married now, and happy. The school was expanding, and someone had donated sewing machines so that the older girls could get some vocational skills as well as academic ones. After an hour or so, a young man came in and spoke with Nakia's friend, so she excused herself.

“It was lovely to see you again. I'll be sure to stop by again soon,” she said, hugging her and heading out. She covered her head with a scarf as she emerged onto the street. She didn't want to attract any more attention than necessary, and thankfully with her head covered and wearing a long kurta and jeans, she looked like anyone else, if a few shades darker than most of them. Everyone was on their way somewhere anyway, no one was paying her much attention. She was staying at a small guesthouse she'd found online, it was small but clean. It was just a mile or so, so she could walk. She took a shortcut through a small alleyway, and noticed a group of teenage boys lingering at the end. They could be looking for trouble, but they could also be messing around. It was hard to tell with teenage boys. Nakia kept walking. She could handle herself.

When she got right to where the boys were standing, they moved out so that she couldn't pass without knocking into them.

“Excuse me, please,” she said in her best Hindi, which she knew was accented regardless.

“You're not from here, are you?” one of them said menacingly.

“I'm from Africa,” Nakia said.

“Nah, you're not just from Africa, you're from Wakanda,” one of them guessed correctly.

“What difference does it make?” Nakia asked.

“If you're from Wakanda, you have money. Come on, give it up.” 

“I don't want to hurt you,” Nakia said, and one of them laughed.

“You? Hurt us?”

“That's enough,” Nakia said, losing her patience. She shoved one of the boys out of the way, and then they all jumped her. She was able to throw all of them off her – they were skinny but wiry, and would have been a problem if she didn't know what she was doing. She threw the last boy off her, knocking him into another one, but then there was a sudden blast that she ducked out of the way of at the last second. It took out a bit of the wall, and Nakia realized where she had seen that before. 

“Hey! Where'd you get that?” she asked. He pulled the blaster up again to shoot, and Nakia realized he wasn't in any mood to talk. She ducked down and got him right behind his knees. He slammed to the ground, and she grabbed his blaster. Nakia turned and got out of there as fast as she could, heading straight back to her guest house.

In her room, she took a shower and changed into a nicer outfit, putting on dark jeans, boots, and a forest green jacket. She put on some makeup and then messaged Okoye, waiting for her image to pop up in her palm. Things had been a little awkward between them after what had gone down in Wakanda, but they had mostly repaired their relationship. 

“Nakia. Good to see you. Is something wrong?” Okoye asked, her voice a little tinny.

“Maybe. Is T'Challa free today?” Nakia asked.

“He has time in about half an hour. Would you like to meet for tea?”

“Yes, I will be there.”

Okoye gave Nakia the address, and she went downstairs, calling an uber across town. When she got to the cafe, she saw them before they saw her. T'Challa was sitting at a small table with Okoye. He was wearing a dark suit, but had taken off his tie and was fidgeting around with it. Okoye wasn't wearing a wig, but she was dressed in street clothes. It didn't much help her blend in, but she didn't need to like Nakia did. She was here with T'Challa on official business, so there was no reason to hide. Okoye sipped her tea, and Nakia walked up to them. 

“Hello,” she said, and T'Challa stood up, hugging her and kissing her quickly on the cheek. She nodded hello at Okoye and they all sat down together. A waiter came by, and Nakia ordered a tea.

“Would you like some privacy?” Okoye asked. Nakia shook her head.

“No, please stay. I was mugged earlier today, by a few men – boys, really.” Nakia began.

“Are you alright?”

“Of course she's alright, let her speak,” Okoye said. T'Challa was silent. 

“They had tech that they shouldn't have had. Blasters. I recognized it,” she said, handing it to T'challa to examine.

“Shuri's,” T'Challa said, handing it to Okoye.

“How did the kid who mugged you get it?” Okoye asked.

“That's the question, isn't it,” Nakia said.

“I have meetings, but I would rather not go to them – “ T'Challa began.

“Maybe Okoye can go in your place,” Nakia suggested. T'Challa snorted. 

“Okoye isn't exactly diplomatic.”

“I'm sitting right here,” she said.

“We will both go to the meeting, and you will call us after half an hour and tell me that there is a family emergency,” T'Challa said.

“Do you really think that is the best phrasing after what just happened?” Okoye said, referring to the whole debacle with T'Challa's cousin some time back.

“Do you have a better idea?” Nakia asked. Okoye shook her head. T'Challa stood up.

“I'll see you soon,” he said, and Okoye left with him. Nakia finished her tea, even though it was too sweet. When she got up to pay, the waiter said T'Challa had already taken care of it.


	3. Chapter 3

Peter was in Shuri's lab, dressed fully in his Spiderman suit, trying to dodge Shuri's attacks with her new and improved blaster as a gaggle of kids watched from a safe distance. He was halfway up the wall, not sure if her backing him up into the corner where the wall met the ceiling was something she had to do or something she wanted to do. Her attention wavered suddenly and she turned away, heading out of the room with no explanation. Peter, startled, unceremoniously fell to the ground, groaning. He heard the kids giggle. 

“Some help please?” he said, and one of the girls came over and pulled him to his feet. She wasn't more than eight or nine years old. Peter made a big show of leaning on her as they walked out towards Shuri, the other kids giggling and chattering. Then he saw who Shuri was talking to. Three tall, beautiful Wakandans stood there. He immediately dropped the girl's arm and stood up straight. Shuri was hugging her brother hello, and he saw Peter over his shoulder.

“You made a new friend?” he asked.

“Um. Hello, sir,” Peter said. 

“We need to talk to you, Shuri,” the shorter woman said. Shuri turned to the kids.

“Hey kids, come back tomorrow, yeah? See you then,” she said, and they left. Peter lingered.

“What? I'm not a kid. Maybe I can help,” he said. Shuri shrugged, and Peter stayed. Not that anyone knew he was Peter, he still had his Spiderman outfit on. Nakia turned to Shuri.

“I was mugged earlier today. Unsuccessfully, by a gang of kids. But they had your tech. Your blasters.”

“That's not possible,” Shuri said. Nakia handed her the blaster, and Shuri's brow furrowed.

“Someone who has access to this lab is stealing your tech and reselling it on the street,” T'Challa said. 

“I will look at the list of the kids who come here. Figure out who had access, and ask around.” Shuri said.

“I can help!” Peter said, raising his hand. T'Challa's face smiled even though his mouth didn't move, and Shuri hissed at Peter to shut up.

“I'll go track down the kids who came after me and see if I can find anything out,” Nakia said.

“We'll be in town for three more days, and you're coming home with us then, Shuri, so you need to find out who has your tech and get it back from them before then,” T'Challa said.

“Wait, what? Three days?” Peter exclaimed.

“I will see you later, Peter. Bye Shuri,” T'Challa said, and left, with Okoye and Nakia.

“Does EVERYONE know who I am?” Peter said, and Shuri laughed.

“No, just us Wakandans,” she said, going back to clean and lock up all of her tech before leaving the lab. Peter pulled off his mask and put on his pants and shirt over his costume, coming back as Shuri took out her tablet and sat down at a table. 

“So, Tony Stark said I could go to MIT, but does the University of Wakanda take international students?” he asked.

“Peter, either help me go through the list of students who come here, or come back tomorrow,” Shuri said. 

“Okay, okay,” he said, and sat down next to her, taking the tablet. Shuri meanwhile examined the blaster. It had been modified, that she knew, but she wasn't sure how just yet.

“Look up to see if any of them have criminal records, or anyone in their family has a criminal record,” Shuri said. Peter did that for a while, but he got so bored by it that after about twenty minutes, when his phone buzzed, he almost startled himself off the stool. He saw it was Ned, and gladly picked up the phone.

“Ned! Hey, what's up?” Peter said. Ned was on Face-time, and it looked like he was with MJ. 

“Holy shit, is that it? Is that the Princess's lab?” he asked.

“Yes, and this is Princess Shuri herself,” Peter said, turning the camera around to show the back of Shuri's head.

“That's so cool! Tell her I said she's awesome.” Ned said.

“She can hear you,” Shuri said dryly, not turning around.

“Wait so you're helping her fight crime in India? Don't they have their own superheroes to do that? They don't need an American - “ MJ started.

“No, I'm not actually fighting crime. I'm the guy in the chair right now,” Peter explained.

“How's it feel?” Ned asked.

“Honestly? Kind of boring.”

“Hey, shut up for a minute.” Shuri said. Peter ignored her, and Ned and MJ were talking over each other now, so he couldn't hear what they were saying.

“Hey! Shut up!” Shuri yelled, and they all fell silent. 

“What?” Peter asked.

“I need to concentrate. Something is strange with this blaster.”

“What's strange?” Peter asked, walking over. Shuri turned the blaster over.

“Do you see this part? There's no way to do this – it's been fused together, and there's no way that anyone here has the means and the resources to heat anything up to the temperature it would have to be. Someone had access to a heat source that doesn't show up or draw any attention. It's not possible,” Shuri said.

“Unless it was aliens!” Ned said. Peter had forgotten for a moment that he was still on the phone.

“It could be another person with powers. A superhero,” MJ suggested.

“India doesn't have any superheroes.” Ned said.

“That's offensive. Honestly, it's racist.” MJ responded.

“We need to warn Nakia,” Shuri said, standing up. Peter picked up his phone.

“Sorry guys, gotta go. Call you later!” he said, hung up, shoved his phone in his backpack, and took off after Shuri who was already out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Nakia wore a necklace that Shuri had made her. It wasn't her most advanced piece of tech, but she found it useful, and the green stones in it made her happy. In the privacy of her room, Nakia took off the necklace and held it up against her tablet. The stones hid a small camera, which recorded constantly and reset every 24 hours. Nakia browsed the video on her tablet, picking out the scenes that it had shot of her mugging. She was able to isolate three faces, though some were quite blurry. She was able to match the faces to names, since the Indian government had started a biometric ID program a few years back. Two of the boys whose names came back had the same last name. They were cousins. She decided that was probably the best place to start. Hopefully they spoke English, because though Nakia could understand Hindi with the translation chip Shuri had given her, she couldn't speak it very well. Committing the address to memory, Nakia hailed a cab and headed out.

When Nakia got out of the car in a nondescript middle-class neighborhood of apartment buildings, she found the one she was looking for and went up to the fourth floor. The elevator wasn't working, and the staircase was dimly lit and dusty. Nakia rang the doorbell of apartment 4B, and waited.

“Who is it?” someone yelled through the door. 

“I'm looking for Rahul and Rohit?” Nakia said, and the door opened. A chunky middle-aged woman in a pastel pink sari opened the door, and spoke in a mixture of Hindi and English.

“Those good for nothings? I haven't seen those boys in weeks. If you see them, tell them they are bringing shame on their family! Their grandmother is sick, she won't eat, they're killing her!”

“I'm so sorry, ma'am. You don't have any idea where they are?”

“No, and if I did, I'd go drag them back here by the ear!” she said. Nakia nodded.

“Thank you,” she said, but the woman had already shut the door in her face. She took a step back. Well, then. Perhaps she'd get lucky and find the third boy. His name was Farhan, and she knew what school he went to. She checked the time. It was midafternoon – if school hadn't let out yet, it would soon. She should get moving.

Nakia got to the school just as the bell rang. She moved to one side as a wave of students came out, all the boys wearing white shirts with red ties and gray pants, and the girls in a mixture of skirts and salwar kameezes, in the same white/gray/red color scheme. She scanned the crowd. She knew what the boy looked like, he had a baby face and looked a few years younger than his age, which was about sixteen. 

“Farhan!” she called out, and a boy turned to look at her. He looked like he wanted to get away, but there were too many kids around, and he wouldn't be able to go anywhere at any speed. Nakia shoved her way past a group of girls and grabbed him by the arm, yanking him away from his friends.

“Hey! Let go of me!”

“Come with me. I remember you from earlier. If you don't do what I say, I'll call the police.”

“You don't have any proof!”

“I have you on video. Come on, let's move,” Nakia said, and the two of them moved down a side street so they could speak in semi-privacy.

“What do you want?” Farhan asked. He was sweating a little, she could see the beads of wetness on his forehead. 

“The blaster you shot me with.”

“I didn't shoot you!”

“Your friend then. Where did you get it?”

“I can't tell you.”

Nakia pushed the boy against the wall, squeezing his forearm hard enough to hurt.

“Fine! Fine. I don't even know those other guys. I just...wanted to be their friend. They said I could come with them when I told them I could get them a blaster,” Farhan confessed. 

“Where did you get the blaster?”

“My neighbor's older brother. He's really good at making things.”

“I'm walking home with you,” Nakia said, pushing him down the street in front of her.

“It's too far to walk, I usually take an autorickshaw - “ Farhan began.

“Fine, I'll get one. I'll even pay for it. Let's go.”

The journey to Farhan's house was only a ten minute ride, but the autorickshaw and the traffic was loud enough that they didn't speak. When they got off, Farhan reluctantly led the way to another apartment building. This one was painted light green, but it had faded and the pollution had caused it to turn greyer than it probably originally had been.

“I'm on the second floor, I have to go inside or else the maid will wonder where I am. You can wait outside, and I'll come back out in five minutes,” Farhan said. Nakia nodded. She waited in the stairwell. Farhan went inside, she heard some voices, and a few minutes later, he came back out, now wearing shorts and a T-shirt. 

“Come on. My neighbor lives on the fifth floor,” he said. Nakia waited in the stairwell again as Farhan asked him where his brother was.

“We have to go to the roof,” he said, and Nakia followed Farhan up to the very top of the staircase. 

“I don't have to come with you, now that you know he's up there,” he said, starting to turn around. Nakia took him by the shoulders and turned him back around to face forward.

“You're coming. Go,” she said. The top of the stairs had a heavy metal door, jammed open with a brick. He pulled it open and went out to the roof, and Nakia came after him, making sure that the brick stayed in place and the door didn't shut behind them. 

The roof was flat and empty. There were low walls to make sure that they didn't fall off the edge, and a few flowerpots scattered around. They just had dirt though, no flowers or plants. There was a small single room in the center of the roof, and above it were some satellite dishes and wires tangling here, there, and everywhere. The room had a door, which was lying open, and there was a green glowing light coming from within. Nakia took a step forward, approaching carefully, but then - 

“WAIT!” someone yelled, and then knocked right into her, flinging them both to the hard ground. She shoved whoever it was off of her, and stood up. Then she saw it was Spiderman. She heard something behind her and turned around, only to see Shuri, panting a little as she ran up the last flight of stairs and came out onto the roof. 

“Shuri? What are you doing here?” Nakia asked, confused. Then the green light went out and someone came out of the room. It was a young man, wearing a white tank top and ratty gray pants with leather slip-on sandals. He had a scraggly moustache, and safety goggles on his face. He was holding a blaster that looked just like the one Nakia had been threatened with in the alleyway earlier.

“Hey! That's my tech! Where'd you get it?” Shuri demanded. He aimed it right at her, and she put her hands up in the air.

“It's mine now, and you're tresspassing, so leave,” he said.

“Why are you two here right now?” Nakia asked Shuri and Peter.

“He's got powers, he's a superhero or maybe a supervillain - “ Peter started to explain. Meanwhile, Farhan translated what they were saying for the benefit of the young man with the gun, who presumably didn't know English.

“Hey! I said leave!” he said, growing impatient, and shot the blaster. Nakia ducked to the ground, taking Shuri with her, and Peter shot his webs at the gun, sending it skittering harmlessly to the ground and out of the way. Nakia stood back up.

“Please, calm down,” she said in her best Hindi, and he held his hands out at her, palms facing towards them in a vaguely threatening gesture.

“Get off my roof,” he said, and Nakia walked towards him, slowly.

"Nakia..." Shuri said, warning her, but she ignored it, walking closer. 

"Nakia, MOVE!" Shuri yelled, and threw one of her bracelets at her. Nakia caught it and fumbled to put it on, but before she could she saw a blinding green light, and then she was knocked to the ground. Peter rolled off of her, and she got the bracelet on, reaching her arm around Peter and raising it up to protect them both as another ball of green energy came at them. It dissipated harmlessly over the shield that the bracelet had created, but Nakia could smell burning, and she knew the first energy had done some damage. To who, she wasn't sure. She wasn't feeling anything.

"Peter, get us out of here," Shuri said, and Peter shot his web at a pot, hurling it at the man, who ducked back into the room and out of the way. 

"Go, go, go - " Shuri said, grabbing Nakia's hand and pulling her out the door. They took the stairs two at a time.

"What is happening?" Nakia said.

"He has powers - superpowers, heat, energy, beyond anything I've ever - he's modifying my tech, making weapons - where is Peter?!" she said as they came out onto the street level.

"I'll text him. We need to get out of here, before he decides to come after us," Shuri said, and Nakia grabbed a passing autorickshaw. They sped away as fast as the motorized vehicle could go, and Nakia waited for her heart rate to return to normal.


	5. Chapter 5

Peter never hit the ground. He travelled from rooftop to rooftop, like Tarzan in the jungle, finally coming to a stop, stumbling a little on an empty rooftop. His phone was buzzing, and he pulled it out of his backpack, answering it.

“Peter? You need to come home now, I can't cover for you for very much longer,” his host brother said. 

“I'm coming right away,” he said, pulling his clothes on over his suit and sending a quick text to Shuri to tell her where he had gone. He went home as fast as he could, and texted his brother to let him in so that his mother didn't see him, but before he went into his room, he stopped by Irfan's room.

“Hey, can I ask you a question?” Peter asked. Irfan was sitting at his desk, but Peter couldn't see what was on his computer screen.

“Yeah,” Irfan said. 

“Are there any Indian superheroes?” Peter asked.

“Yes, there was, he's old now, or retired, I think. Thunderbird.”

“Was he one of the X-men?”

“Yes, back when our parents were kids. He never revealed his identity, so he could be living a normal life now. Nobody knows.”

“Is he the only Indian superhero?” Peter asked.

“The only one I can think of.”

Peter's phone buzzed so he thanked his host brother and went to his own room. He turned the switch in the bathroom that connected to the water heater, and sat down on his bed. It took a few minutes for the water to get hot, so Peter pulled out his phone. There was a voicemail from Shuri.

“Where did you go? Nakia's going to call my brother and I'm trying to persuade her to let us fix this on our own. Call me back, Peter.”

Peter put the phone down, and took a shower. While he was in there, he thought of more questions he had for Irfan, but he was intercepted by his host mother, who inssited he eat something. After snacks and tea, he said he had to go do homework and went into his room, pulling open his laptop. He googled Thunderbird, and tried to find headlines about him. There weren't really any in English, just a few mentions of his name in larger articles about other X-men. He pushed his chair away, frustrated, and decided to call Shuri back. She answered right away.

“Peter! I was wondering about you. Everything alright?” she asked.

“Yes, I”m just researching Thunderbird right now,” he said.

“Thunderbird?”

“An Indian X-man. I'm wondering if he's related to the man we saw with powers. Did you and Nakia get back alright?” 

“Yes, we're fine. I'm working on trying to figure out how to modify my tech against his powers, at least based on what we've seen of them. Nakia's going to try to work the street angle – she is going to find out where the weapons he makes are going on the street and what they're being used for.”

“Okay. I'll let you know if I find out anything,” Peter said.

“Night,” Shuri said, and Peter wished her the same. He went back to his laptop and googled Thunderbird's name but in Hindi. He opened Google Translate on one tab, and opened up a few newspaper articles. When he found some that seemed relevant, he printed them out, making the font bigger and flopping down on the bed with a pen and his phone open to Google Translate. He painstakingly went through the article, translating what parts he could, and leaveing a lot of it blank. He fell asleep with the pen in his hand and his cheek smushed against the paper.

The next morning, Peter shoved the printouts into his backpack when he went to school in the morning. Halfway through the morning they had a twenty minute break. A few of the kids stayed back and chatted, some went out and walked around, others took the chance to go to the bathroom. The teacher usually stuck around, so Peter pulled out his newspaper articles and went up to her.

“Excuse me, I've been trying to translate these on my own but I think I got some of it wrong. Can you help me?” he asked. She nodded.

“Let me look,” she said. He handed them to her and she quickly went through them, correcting his mistakes and adding in the words he didn't know. He wanted to read them, but the break was over, so he just thanked her and went back to his seat. Peter wasn't sure how he made it through the rest of class, he just wanted to read the articles. He knew it was unrealistic to think there'd be clear answers there, but still. He was curious. After class, they went to lunch at the cafeteria, and Peter sat away a little so he could read the articles. He was right. There wasn't much of use. Thunderbird's powers weren't really the same as the man they had seen, though there was mention of a wife, so he could have had kids.

“Hey Peter! What are you doing?” a classmate asked, and Peter put the papers away. He went over to join the rest of the students who included him in their conversation.

“Why are you so spaced out? Thinking about something? Or someone?” a girl teased.

“No.” Peter said, so quickly that it was clear he was lying. Some of the kids laughed, and Peter blushed.

“What's her name?”

“What does she look like?”

“She's tall and pretty. She's really smart and she's funny. She's older than me though, so I don't think she's into me like that,” Peter said.

“Aw, you never know!”

The conversation moved on to other people's girlfriends or boyfriends, and Peter thankfully did not have to participate for the rest of lunch.

That afternoon, they all went on a field trip to Humayun's Tomb. It was in the city, so it wasn't too far of a ride, and the monument itself was pretty striking and beautiful. It was interesting enough that for a while his attention was on what he was doing instead of newspaper articles or Wakandans. He took some selfies with the group, and then a couple of his own to send to Ned. The tour guide was explaining the history to them, and it was actually kind of interesting. Once he had finished the tour, they were allowed to roam around for a while as long as they stayed in sight. Some of the kids broke off and started horsing around on the grass. Peter walked by himself around the building, and then someone said his name and fell into step beside him.

“Hey!” Shuri said. Peter almost jumped out of his skin.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I wanted to ask you if you want to come help me test out some new tech of mine. I modified it so it could work with the powers of that guy we ran into,” she said, not answering his question.

“Um, yes! Of course I do. Tell me more,” Peter said.

“I'll find you later,” she said, and headed off.

“You could have just texted me!” Peter yelled after her.

“I wanted to see your handsome face!” Shuri yelled back over her shoulder. Peter could hear her shit-eating grin and a group of his classmates who overheard the interaction went 'wooooo'. Peter told them to shut up, turning pink despite himself.

“Is that her?”

“Is that the girl?”

“She is pretty, you were right.”

“Where's she from?”

“How'd you meet her?”

“Okay, let's head back to the bus now! Come on, let's go!”

Peter was so grateful for the interruption he was the first in line to climb back into the minivan, and tried his best to ignore all the questions thrown his way, mostly succeeding.


	6. Chapter 6

Nakia went back to the school for street kids. She stopped at a market first, finding the jewelry section and buying a basket of bangles in every color of the rainbow. They were cheap plastic, but she knew the girls would love them. She asked permission to spend some time with them, and she waited for their lunch break. The younger girls played with the boys, but the older boys got a cricket game going and the older girls sat in a group, chatting and laughing. Nakia sat down with them and introduced herself, placing the basket of bangles on the table. They excitedly rummaged through them, choosing their favorite colors. Nakia smiled and helped one girl get them over her small wrist. 

“You have to stay, you will be in my class next year.”

“I won't, I'm leaving school.”

“Why are you leaving?” Nakia asked.

“I'm getting married.”

“How old are you?”

“She's seventeen.”

“He's her boyfriend,” one of the girls teased. They started joking about how she would have to sleep with her husband, if she hadn't already, and then one of them said something about how even if they were married she wouldn't have to be intimate with him if she didn't want to.

“He will be my husband, I can't stop him. It's my duty,” the girl said.

“You can stop him with your chain,” one younger girl said.

“Your chain?” Nakia asked. She had stayed out of the conversation thus far, just listening, but this she did not understand.

“Yes, our chains,” the girl replied, showing the thin gold necklace that she wore under her top. Nakia glanced around and saw that most of the girls were wearing identical ones. 

“We're not supposed to talk about it.”

“Well, it's too late now, isn't it, Anika,” another girl said, a little annoyed.

“What are your chains good for?” Nakia asked. The younger girl who had brought it up pulled her chain out of her shirt, and she saw there was a small green pendant at the end of it. 

“If we push this,” she said, and she did. It glowed, but nothing else seemed to happen. Nakia looked at her, waiting.

“You can't see anything, it's invisible. But try to touch me,” she said. The girl was sitting just a few feet away from Nakia, so she stood up and reached out to touch her shoulder. Her hand stopped an inch away from her, pressing up against an unseen barrier. She moved her hand across her body, and it was the same. The barrier was all around her.

“Where did you get this?” Nakia asked. It was beyond what anyone here should be able to make.

“We can't tell you, we promised not to.”

“Did you have to pay for it?” she asked. They shook their heads.

“No, he – they gave them to all of us, for free.”

The bell rang, which meant that all the girls had to head to class. They apologized and darted off, clearly regretting that they had revealed too much. Nakia headed outside to call Shuri on her way down the street. Shuri picked up right away.

“I found out a way to defend against the energy blasts,” Shuri said, without even saying hello.

“How do you know?” Nakia asked.

“Peter and I did our best to recreate them in the lab.”

“I don't know if that fills me with that much confidence, but I suppose it's the best we can hope for. I found out what the tech is being used for. I am fairly certain. Are you at the lab right now?” Nakia asked.

“Yes, with Peter.”

“He never leaves your side, does he?” Nakia teased.

“I'm hanging up now, Nakia.” Nakia laughed and hung up, catching a taxi to the lab. She would just tell Shuri in person.

The lab was closed to outsiders at the moment, so there were no kids present. It was getting dark anyway, the sun was beginning to set.

“Hi Nakia!” Shuri said as she netered. She was with Peter in the glass enclosed room that she used to test out her more dangerous technology. It wasn't really glass, it was much stronger, but Nakia didn't really spend a lot of time trying to keep up with what Shuri was working on.

“Hello,” Nakia said. Peter, dressed in his Spiderman suit, waved at her and Shuri shot at him with some kind of weapon. Peter saw her move just in time to raise his arms up, and Nakia saw that he was wearing barcelets. The energy that came out of Shuri's gun dissipated over an invisible barrier much like the one that the girls at the school had just demonstrated.

“That's not different from what you had before - “ Nakia started.

“Wait,” Shuri said, and Peter unlocked his arms. The energy that seemed to have dissipated went right towards the wall, leaving a dark charred mark on it. It was a testament to the structure that there wasn't an actual hole blown in the room.

“That's like T'challa's suit,” Nakia said.

“Yeah, I didn't want to waste time making new tech when I could just adapt my old stuff,” Shuri said, putting the weapon down and coming out of the room. 

“I can't guarantee it will work, because we can't really test it as it should be, but it's our best shot,” Shuri said.

“Good job, Shuri,” Nakia said.

“Peter helped.”

Peter walked over, pulling off his mask. He was sweaty, red-faced, and had the biggest grin on his face.

“You need a shower. You stink,” Shuri said. 

“You're right,” Peter said, smelling himself. He peeled off his suit and went to the shower, pulling a curtain around it. Nakia heard the water turn on.

“There's no soap over there!” Shuri yelled.

“Better than nothing!” Peter yelled back. Shuri sat down at a table. Nakia sat next to her.

“You had something to tell me?” she asked.

“Yes, I did. I found out what that boy's been doing with your tech,” Nakia said, and explained the chains she'd seen on the girls at the school for street kids. Peter shook his wet hair like a dog as there was no towel, and walked over to join them. He'd heard most of the story as well.

“So he's not a bad guy after all. Hhe's helping those girls,” Peter said.

“He's still stealing my tech to do it,” Shuri said.

“I don't think he is good or bad. We need to speak with him, and if he keeps attacking us, we will never be able to get a word in,” Nakia said. Her phone beeped and she pulled it out. Here in the privacy of the lab she was able to use the Wakandan tech that projected Okoye onto her hand.

“Hello Nakia. How is the investigation going?” she asked.

“Tell my brother that I'm fine and he needs to mind his own business!” Shuri yelled. Okoye rolled her eyes fondly.

“We're all doing well and making progress. I will update the king later this evening, thank you.” Nakia said.

“Stay safe,” Okoye said and Nakia nodded.

“You too,” she said, and hung up. Peter stood up.

“What do we do now?” he asked. 

“Now we go find this young man with powers and try to talk to him,” Nakia said.

“If that doesn't work, we shoot him.” Shuri said with a mischievous smile.

“We do not shoot him, we capture him and bring him back here so that we can talk to him,” Nakia said.

“Sounds good to me,” Peter said, and off they went.


	7. Chapter 7

Peter made sure his costume was on as they headed outside. It was dark by now, and Peter was kind of hungry, but he didn't say anything, since he was on a mission. Nakia decided to try talking to the boy Farhan again, since he knew the whereabouts of the young man making the weapons previously, he might know where he was now. 

“I gotta call my host mom to make sure she knows I won't be home for a while,” Peter said as they all piled into the back of a taxi together. He quickly made the call, telling her that he was out with some friends and would be home late, but it was okay because he didn't have class tomorrow. Yes, he would call or text as soon as he was ready to come home and they would send a car for him. Peter hung up and looked up on his phone to find the picture of the document about Thunderbird he'd translated earlier. 

“I still think he might be Thunderbird's son, but there's no information about him ever even marrying anyone,” Peter said. 

“Thunderbird?” the cab driver said in accented English.

“Yes, do you know him?” Shuri asked.

“I don't know him, but of course I know who he is.”

“Do you know his real name? Do you know if he had family?” Peter asked.

“He was private man. Kept everything secret. Nice man. Superhero.”

Peter slumped back in his seat.

“Please let us off here,” Nakia said as they pulled up in front of an apartment building, and she paid the cabdriver, thanking him. 

“There's no way he's still here. How are we going to find him?” Shuri asked. Nakia led the way inside.

“We will ask Farhan.”

“Who's Farhan?” Peter asked.

“He will know where to find our superhero. Supervillain. Come on,” Nakia said, and led the way upstairs. When they got to the right apartment, Nakia stood back and pulled Shuri aside, out of view of the front door.

“Knock, and ask for Farhan,” she said to Peter.

“Why me?”

“Because they've seen me before, and you're a small white boy,” Nakia said, and Shuri snorted. Peter couldn't argue with that, not because he agreed with their assessment, but because he knew he would lose, so he knocked on the door and asked the young woman who answered if he could speak to Farhan, in his best Hindi. She nodded, and a few minutes later the boy was at the door.

“Who are you?”

“Come out here for a moment please,” Peter said, and Farhan walked out, shutting the door behind him. Nakia and Shuri stepped forward, and Farhan paled, backing up against the door. Nakia grabbed him by his arm and pulled him out into the stairwell. 

“I have nothing to do with any of this.”

“Tells us where your neighbor is. The man we saw earlier.”

“He left! I don't know where he went!”

“Where's his brother? Does he still live upstairs?” Nakia asked him. Farhan nodded. She let him go.

“Bring him down here. Hurry up,” she said. Shuri waited by the stairs, listening as Farhan went up and knocked on the upstairs apartment. After a minute, two sets of footsteps came down, and it was the boy that they had seen on the roof earlier with his older brother. He saw them and immediately tried to go back up, but Shuri grabbed him and Nakia held him in place.

“I won't tell you anything, I won't let you hurt him - “ he said.

“He's more likely to hurt us,” Shuri muttered.

“We just want to talk to him. We know what he's doing to help girls protect themselves. We want to help him,” Nakia said.

“You're Wakandans, right?” the boy asked.

“Yes. He doesn't have to steal from me and work here, he can come to my lab and we can become partners. Reach more girls – the whole city, maybe even the country - “ Shuri said.

“Alright! I'll tell you. I can't go, not now, it's late and my mom is home, and Farhan can't go either, his mother would never let him, but I can give you directions. You have to try to blend in though,” he said, looking at Peter and his plae skin. He shrank into himself a little awkwardly.

“Thank you,” Nakia said, and they left. It was dark outside, and they walked to the corner. 

“You should go home, Peter. The neighborhood he is in isn't very safe, and you will stand out. We are darker, and with a headscarf or two, we will be fine, especially since it's dark out.” Nakia said.

“It's okay, my host mom already knows that I'm out for dinner, I can go someplace high up and watch you from above.” 

Nakia sighed.

“I have my Spiderman suit and everything,” Peter said.

“Fine. Be careful,” Nakia said, and Peter grinned, running off into the darkness.


	8. Chapter 8

“Text me!” Shuri yelled after Peter as he disappeared into the darkness.

“He's cute,” Nakia said.

“Shut up,” Shuri replied, putting the scarf that Nakia gave her on over her head. Nakia did the same. They walked away from the main street into the side streets, which got narrower and narrower. This area didn't have apartment buildings like the rest of town, all of the buildings were one or two stories, and a lot more open to the street. It was a little noisier than the previous neighborhood, though still quiet as it was night time. 

“This way,” Nakia said, following the directions she'd been given and entering a small doorway. They had to bend down to avoid hitting their head. There was a long hallway, open to the elements with no roof, and two long low buildings on either side. Most of the doors were open or at least half open, with the noises of people coming out. 

“Should we just knock?” Shuri asked. Nakia stepped forward and knocked on an open door. A young mother opened the door, a baby on her hip.

“Yes?” she asked. 

“We're looking for a young man and were wondering if you could help.” Nakia asked.

“He's about this tall, he has a little mustache, and he's very smart, he likes to build things,” Shuri said, holding out her hand at her eye level.

“What do you need him for?” she asked.

“His mother sent us, she's looking for him,” Nakia said, and the woman visibly relaxed a little.

“Oh good. He needs to go home. He doesn't belong here, you know.”

“Which room is his?”

“That one right there,” she said, pointing.

“Thank you very much,” Nakia said, and she went with Shuri to the room the woman had indicated. The door was closed, but there was a light on inside. Shuri knocked first, and then knocked louder when he didn't answer. Finally he came to the door – it was him, and when he saw who they were, he immediately tried to shove the door closed, but Nakia stuck her foot in the way. 

“We just want to talk to you, please – we don't want to hurt you - “ she said, but either he didn't understand, he didn't care, or her Hindi was just really bad, because he raised his hands up and shot that green light at her again. This time though, not only did Nakia raise her arms to block it, but it went right back at him, knocking him flat against the opposite wall to the ground. There was a moment of silence. Thankfully nobody was watching them, and the noise didn't seem to be loud enough for anyone to remark on it. Shuri walked into the room and looked down at the young man.

“He's passed out,” she said. Peter leaped nimbly to the ground somewhere behind Nakia, and walked over.

“What's up?” he said. 

“Peter, can you carry him to the lab?” Nakia asked. No one had come out to see what was going on yet, but that didn't mean they wouldn't.

“I think so.”

“Take him to the lab. Shuri, you go too. I'll meet you both there. Now!” Nakia hissed, and they obeyed. Shuri helped Peter get the young man up and over his shoulder, and Peter headed out, Shuri running after him. Nakia went into the room. It was small and very sparsely furnished. There was a blanket and pillow on the floor in one corner, and the rest of the room had tech and parts strewn around. Nakia shook the pillow out of its pillowcase and went around gathering up all the tech she recognized as being Shuri's, shoving it in the bag. Then she left, turning off the light and shutting the door behind her. The woman she'd asked for directions earlier was hanging out in her doorway, curiously watching.

“Is everything alright? That boy who lives there, is he alright?” she asked. Nakia went over to her. She saw that she was wearing a necklace, and when she looked closer she realized it was the same one the girls at the school earlier were wearing. It was the tech he had designed to work as a shield for protection against assault. Nakia smiled. 

“Don't worry, he's fine. Thank you for your help,” she said. The woman nodded and Nakia headed off to the main street to catch a cab.

Nakia went straight to the hotel that T'Challa and Okoye were staying at. She needed to report on a mission accomplished, but she had to admit to herself that wasn't the only reason. She wanted to see T'Challa. 

Nakia made her way up to the hotel room, and when she knocked on T'Challa's door, he opened it wearing comfortable clothes – dark sweatpants and a forest green cardigan that looked very soft and fuzzy. 

“Nakia! What are you doing here?” he asked, and then saw the pillowcase she was holding. It bulged in odd places, and he stepped aside to let her in so she could put it down.

“I just wanted to let you know we found the young man who had been stealing Shuri's tech,” Nakia said. He gestured at the bed, which was the only place to sit, as there were clothes piled on the chair by the desk. Nakia sat down and explained to him what had happened since they last spoke.

“So he is at Shuri's lab now?”

“Yes, but he was knocked out so he probably won't wake for a while. When he does, we will have to talk to him and persuade him to work with us instead of against us,” Nakia said.

“If you need any help, I can come and talk to him.” T'Challa said. Nakia smiled.

“That won't be necessary, but thank you,” she said, standing up.

“Do you have to go back right away?” T'Challa asked.

“Well, I have to get this tech back, but I don't need to rush,” she said. He came closer to her, and she leaned back on her hands, looking up at his big brown eyes. 

“Can you stay?” he asked, his voice lowering a few octaves. Nakia stood up, which put her so close to him that she could feel his breath on her face. She smiled and nodded, and he crossed the last few inches to kiss her. She felt his mouth on hers, still smiling. Nakia put her arms around his neck, turning him around without breaking contact. She nudged his cardigan off his shoulders, letting it fall softly on the floor, and reached her hands underneath the soft cotton of his T shirt to his warm skin. When he lifted his arms over his head so she could get his shirt off, she pushed him down onto the bed. As she leaned over, the scarf around her neck came loose and drifted down onto his lap, and T'Challa looked up at Nakia like she was the most beautiful person in the world, the longing in his face mirrored in her own.


	9. Chapter 9

Peter was huffing and puffing by the time he got back to the lab, and Shuri had to help him carry the young man the last part of their journey into the lab. They put him into the training room, since it locked, and made sure he was propped up against the wall so he wouldn't be too alarmed when he woke up. Peter changed back into his street clothes,, and when he came back, Shuri was in a corner of the lab pulling out some cushions and blankets from a cabinet that Peter hadn't seen before.

“Are you going to stay here all night?” he asked.

“I should stay here in case he wakes up. Nakia will be here soon too, but you should go home,” Shuri said. 

“I don't want to leave you alone here all night. I can stay. We can take turns sleeping,” he said.

“I can't ask you to do that,” Shuri said, but Peter pulled out his phone and called Irfan, who agreed to cover for him.

“It's fine. My host brother has me covered. Let me help,” he said, and the two of them pulled out blankets and cushions to make a little cozy nest in a corner of the lab. Shuri pulled out the same device Peter had seen her use to call other Wakandans, that had a little hologram projection of them. 

“We can watch a movie on this. What do you want to watch?”

“What are you in the mood for?”

“Have you seen the latest Keanu Reeves action movie?”

“No, do you like him?”

“Keanu is the Best,” Shuri said.

“Of course,” Peter agreed. Shuri put the device on the floor, and it projected just at their eye level when they leaned back against the pillows. Peter made sure to keep a respectable distance between himself and Shuri, partially because he thought he probably smelled kind of sweaty after the long day he'd had. They didn't talk much, just watching, and before he knew it, Peter was asleep.

When Peter woke up, he was in an awkward position, half slumped up against the cushions, and Shuri had fallen over onto his shoulder. She was drooling a little. Peter didn't want to move so he didn't wake her. Even when she was sleeping, she was so pretty, and she was so smart. He really liked her, but he thought she probably didn't like him back that way. She was older than him, after all. Peter's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden movement in the corner of his eye. He sat up straighter, gently lowering Shuri's head onto a pillow instead of his shoulder, and looked into the glass walls of the training room. The man they had brought back here was waking up. He stood up and looked around the room, and then he saw them. Peter shook Shuri gently awake.

“I think he's waking up,” Peter said. Shuri wiped the corner of her mouth.

“Did I drool on you? I'm sorry,” she said. 

“It's okay,” Peter reassured her. She stood up and rubbed her face. Her hair was flat on the side she'd slept on.

“Where's Nakia?” she asked. 

“I guess she never came back,” Peter replied. Shuri tried calling her, but there was no answer.

“I bet she went to T'Challa's,” Shuri said, the annoyed tone coming through her voice. Peter thought maybe she wasn't a morning person.

“Let's go talk to this guy and see if we can persuade him to work with us,” Peter said.

“I don't think my Hindi's good enough for this,” Shuri said.

“We can use Google Translate,” Peter offered. Shuri shrugged and they walked into the training room. The young man didn't attack them right away, which Peter thought was a good sign.

“We are sorry if you are hurt,” Peter began. The man didn't move or say anything.

“We want to work with you. We know what you're doing to help girls and women protect themselves. We want to help you and give you the resources you need to do this for more women and girls. Maybe across the whole city, or the whole country!” Shuri said in halting Hindi, pausing now and then to consult her phone.

“How do I know I can trust you?” he replied, and thanks to the translator patches by their ears, Peter and Shuri understood him perfectly.

“Because we haven't put you in prison, or hurt you. We want to know more about you.” Peter said.

“I want to study your powers. I bet we could do some really cool things with them.”

Just then, there was a noise behind them, and Peter looked around to see it was finally Nakia, along with T'Challa and Okoye. Peter immediately stepped back. The Wakandans were nice, but very intimidating.

“How are things going here?” T'Challa asked.

“It's going well. We just need to talk to him and explain things,” Shuri said.

“Were you here all night?” Nakia asked Peter, and then looked at Shuri.

“The two of you? Where did you sleep?” she asked.

“Where did YOU sleep? You said you'd meet us here, and you didn't,” Shuri said. 

“I should go,” Peter said, pulling out his phone to check the time.

“Thank you for your help, Peter Parker,” T'Challa said, and Peter did a weird bow, blushed bright red, and grabbed his backpack, heading out before he could embarrass himself further. Whenever he looked at T'Challa, he just thought about what it would have been like if he'd turned up just a few minutes before to see his little sister asleep on his shoulder. Peter had already been out all night, and he didn't know how much longer Irfan could cover for him. He didn't take a cab, instead putting on his spider man outfit and leaping from building to building to get home as fast as he could.


	10. Chapter 10

Shuri had told Peter she wouldn't be in town for long, but he hadn't realized that she would be leaving so soon. She texted him when he was on an outing with his host mother and Irfan, they had gone to a nearby park because Peter's host mother had decided that they all needed some fresh air. His host mother had stepped away for a while to take a phone call, so Irfan and Peter were wandering around, a little bored, when Shuri texted and told Peter she was heading out but she wanted to see him before she went.

“Where are you right now?” she texted, so he sent her his location, and not even five minutes later a Wakandan airship materialized in the sky above them, slowly lowering to the ground in the park n front of them.

“What the hell is going on?” Irfan said, but Peter didn't have an answer. Shuri certainly was making an entrance. Once the ship landed, the door opened and she walked out, running over to him.

“I'm sorry, I hate goodbyes but I didn't want to leave without seeing you,” she said.

“You had to land a whole ship in the park?” Peter said. Shuri shrugged with a smile. Peter could see T'Challa and Nakia in the ship doorway beyond, and he waved at them. Nakia smiled and waved back, and T'Challa just gave him a regal nod.

“it was really nice to meet you, Peter Parker,” Shuri said.

“It was nice to meet you too. You should come to Queens sometime so I can show you around,” Peter said.

“Sure. Maybe I'll show you Wakanda someday,” Shuri said.

“Bye, Shuri,” Peter said, standing there awkwardly. He wasn't sure if he should go in for a handshake or a hug, but then she leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

“What the HELL,” he heard Irfan say, but Peter was struck dumb with surprise, and as Shuri got back onboard and the ship took off, he could still feel the impression of her lips on his cheek. Grinning stupidly, he turned back around just as his host mom came walking up.

“Shaved ice?” she asked, handing him a snow cone.

“Thank you,” Peter said, and let the flavored ice dissolve on his tongue as he followed her back through the park, Irfan, still dumbstruck, following behind.


End file.
